Just 11 minutes of one exercise a day cuts early death risk by a quarter

A groundbreaking study suggests that just 11 minutes of brisk walking each day could cut your risk of premature death by nearly a quarter. Just 1,100 steps — half the recommended number — could help prevent heart disease and certain cancers.

The study, the largest to date with more than 30 million participants worldwide, found that 75 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week was associated with a 23% lower risk of death.

Dr Soren Brasi, who led the study, said: “Our findings should come as good news for anyone who finds 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week a bit of a challenge. A little exercise is better than none at all, so this is a good starting point.”

“Once you find that 75 minutes a week is manageable, you can gradually work your way up to the recommended amount,” he adds.

One in five middle-aged people in the UK lead a sedentary lifestyle, and the most common excuses given for not exercising are reported to be lack of time and being too tired. Wales Online.

A research team from the University of Cambridge combined data from 196 peer-reviewed studies covering 94 large cohorts.

Studies have found that the benefits of getting more than the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise recommended by health authorities each week are minimal, but even achieving just half of this recommendation can have a significant health benefit, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer by 17% and 7%, respectively.

The incidence of certain cancers, including those affecting the head and neck, blood, bone marrow, and digestive system, has decreased by 14 to 26 percent. The incidence of tumors of the lung, liver, uterus, intestine, and breast has also decreased by 3 to 11 percent.

Shockingly, two-thirds of study participants reported doing less than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, and less than one in 10 did more than 300 minutes per week. Professor James Woodcock, who contributed to the study, said: “We know that physical activity such as walking and cycling has health benefits, especially if you feel your heart rate increase.”

He went on to reveal that even moderate exercise every day can have significant health benefits, saying, “But what we found is that even if you can only exercise for 10 minutes each day, it can have significant benefits for your heart health and reduce your risk of cancer.”

The study found that if all participants had engaged in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week, about 16 percent of premature deaths could have been avoided, as well as 11 percent of cardiovascular disease cases and 5 percent of cancer cases.

Additionally, the researchers estimated that engaging in at least 75 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week could prevent about 10% of premature deaths. This level of activity could also prevent 5% of cardiovascular disease cases and about 3% of cancer cases.

Dr Leandro Garcia, from Queen’s University Belfast, advises: “Moderate exercise doesn’t have to be the same as what we normally think of as exercise, such as sports or running. Sometimes it’s enough to just change a few habits – for example, walking or cycling to work or school instead of driving, or playing actively with your children or grandchildren.”

“Doing activities that you enjoy and that can easily be incorporated into your weekly routine is a great way to become more active.”

Fitness trackers, including Fitbit, commonly recommend walking 10,000 steps a day, a goal that has its roots in a campaign in Japan before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, when a pedometer called “manpokei” (translated as “10,000 steps”) became popular among people looking to get healthier.

Details of the study have been published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.